Health Tips | Desi Tips
Home remedies to cure from cold & flue
The flue is a viral infection that strikes the entire body with a vengeance. The misery starts suddenly with chills and fever and spirals into more unpleasant symptoms that will take you out of commission: a sore throat, dry cough, stuffy or runny nose, headache (especially behind the eyes), severe muscle aches and pains, weakness, backache, and loss of appetite. Some people even experience pain and stiffness in the joints.
Flu is a highly contagious illness, spread by droplets from the respiratory tract of an infected person. These droplets can be airborne, such as those released after a person coughs or sneezes, or they can be transferred via an infected person's hands.
Some natural remedies for the flu are
Drink up. The flu can leave you dehydrated, especially if have vomiting or diarrhea. So be sure to get enough fluids. Water is fine. So are fruit juices, soda, and electrolyte beverages. You may want to stay away from caffeinated drinks, because caffeine is a diuretic. Herbal tea with honey can soothe a sore throat. If you feel nauseated, try taking small sips of liquids -- gulps might cause you to throw up. How can you be sure you’re getting enough fluid? Your urine should be pale yellow, almost colorless.
Elevate your head when sleeping: Aside from the general aches and pains that come with the flu, chest and head congestion can make it really difficult to get the rest you need when fighting a bug. The best way to get and stay comfortable in bed when you have the flu is by elevating your head with an extra pillow or two. By keeping your head and chest higher than the rest of your body, you'll avoid them 'filling up' when you lie flat. Coughs too can be improved at night by simply sleeping with your head in an elevated position.
Wear wet socks to bed. Believe it or not, this soggy strategy can help ease a fever and clear congestion by drawing blood to the feet, which dramatically increases blood circulation. (Blood stagnates in areas of greatest congestion.) Best method: Warm your feet in hot water. Then soak a thin pair of cotton socks in cold water, wring them out and slip them on just before going to bed. Put a pair of dry wool socks over the wet ones. The wet socks should be warm and dry in the morning, and you should feel markedly better.
Chest rubs: There is something so automatically comforting about rubbing something menthol-y on your chest and back when you're sick that it has to be good, right? Happily, chest rubs do have a medicinal use beyond making you feel nurtured. Eucalyptus, camphor and menthol rubs all work to soothe chest congestion and the vapours that are released from contact with your warm skin will help clear your congested head.
Try soaking your feet in a mustard footbath. In a basin, mix 1 tablespoon of mustard powder in 1 L of hot water. The mustard draws blood to your feet, which helps to relieve congestion.
Sip some soup. For generations, caring parents have been serving chicken soup to kids with colds and flu. Study published in the journal Chest showed that chicken soup may help with symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections like the flu.
Be a couch potato. Listen to your body. If it’s telling you not to exercise, don’t. If it’s urging you to spend all day in bed, do. Don't press on with daily chores even in the face of severe cold or flu symptoms. Rest is “another way of supporting the body’s ability to fight infection
Humidify. Breathing moist air helps ease nasal congestion and sore throat pain. One good strategy is to indulge in a steamy shower several times a day or just turn on the shower and sit in the bathroom for a few minutes, inhaling the steam.
Drink a cup of ginger tea. Ginger helps block the production of substances that cause bronchial congestion and stuffiness, and it contains compounds call gingerols, which are natural cough suppressants.
During cold and flu season, take 20 to 30 drops of Echinacea tincture in half-cup of water three times daily.
Steam inhalations: Steam inhalations help thin the mucous that's making you stuffy and clogging your chest. Several times a day, pour boiling water into a bowl - you can add a couple of drops of tea tree or eucalyptus oil into the water too. Place a towel over your head and then lower yourself so that your face is over the boiling water and the towel is creating a tent around you. Breathe the steam in deeply and slowly until the water begins to cool. As steam is generally good for getting mucous moving, hot showers also have a health benefit.
